May 2026
Tara Opsal has been named CLA’s next William E. Morgan Endowed Chair, the highest faculty honor in the College of Liberal Arts. Check out this Source story where Tara describes how the Morgan Chair will allow her to expand CJVI over the next three years as a hub for community-engaged, interdisciplinary justice research across Colorado.
“Tara Opsal is a tremendous colleague in the College of Liberal Arts—both as a scholar and a leader,” said Kjerstin Thorson, dean of the College of Liberal Arts. “Her work with CJVI will help create meaningful change in our justice systems. That change will emerge in partnership with our communities—as it should—representing the very best engaged scholarship that emerges from our disciplines and reflecting the legacy of President Morgan’s vision for CSU.”
Congratulations, Tara!
Stephanie Malin is one of two 2026 CLA Interdisciplinary Scholarship Award winners.
"The Center for EJ often works to initiate collaborative, interdisciplinary research projects, grant proposals, and outreach efforts with local governments, community partners, and other institutions across the US and throughout the world. Stephanie has been centrally involved in many of these efforts, and has led and worked on teams with communications experts, historians, engineers, environmental policy analysts, nuclear scientists, atmospheric scientists, climate scientists, and geographers." – Mindy Hill, Managing Director, Center for Environmental Justice
Congratulations, Stephanie!
KuoRay Mao was recently interviewed by the British Medical Journal for the article "China cracks down on microplastics and forever chemicals with new law."
"While that could improve the consistency of enforcement and regulation, 'environmental activism or advocacy operating beyond official channels could be marginalised, delegitimised, or even criminalised, particularly where they are perceived as challenging state authority,' Mao said," – author Flynn Murphy
Janelle Viera was invited to present her research at CENTRO,The Center for Puerto Rican Studies' Rooted + Relational Symposium, which took place on May 2 at CUNY Hunter College's East Harlem location in New York City.
Her presentation, titled, "Contextualizing Race in Place: Diasporic Boricua Identities," merged testimony and empirical findings to examine how Puerto Ricans forge racial identities in relation to place-specific constructions of whiteness and Blackness. She joined other incredible scholars on a panel whose central theme was Diasporic Formations: Language, Race, and Archival Silences.
Congratulations on these successful defenses!
Dr. Nefratiri Weeks: “Moon Mining: Imperialism’s Next Frontier or Democratic Cooperation
Committee: Drs. Laura Raynolds, KuoRay Mao, Jessie Luna, and Dimitris Stevins (Political Science)
Dr. Bria Willert: "Crack/Power Cocaine Sentencing: Analyzing Elements of Everlasting Inequality"
Committee: Drs. Jeff Nowacki, Tara Opsal, Prabha Unnithan, and Anne Williford (Social Work)
Dr. Becca Chalit Hernandez: "Abolitionist Care in Prisoner Solidarity and Carceral Punishment in Minnesota"
Committee: Drs. Joshua Sbicca, KuoRay Mao, Jessie Luna, and Carrie Chennault (Anthropology & Geography)
Kaitlin Dute, M.A.: “The Boundaries of Illegality: The Impact of U.S. State-Level Policy on Mexican Immigrant Mental Health” Committee: Drs. Janelle Viera, Tony Roberts and Elizabeth Kiehne (Social Work)
Congratulations to the recipients of Sociology’s 2025-2026 graduate student awards!
Emilia Ravetta — Graduate Student Research Excellence (Ph.D.)
Polina Kopeikin — Outstanding Graduate Student Paper (M.A.)
Amber Obermaier — Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor
Jenny Allen — Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Assistant
"We had outstanding submissions for each award, and it was very competitive! Thank you to everyone who made nominations, to the many faculty who submitted GTA recommendations, and of course to everyone who contributes to our department’s teaching and research." – Dr. Pat Hastings
Congratulations Emilia, Polina, Amber, and Jenny!
SOC senior Kailey Kinney received rave reviews as the instructor for CSU's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) course, "Tech Skills: Basic Smartphone Navigation and Accessibility." Older adult learners in the Northern Colorado community joined CSU students to learn the fundamentals of smartphone and tablet apps.
Many thanks to Avery Martin (CHHS) and our partners across campus for collaborating on these great photos showing our land-grant mission in action!
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